


Together

by ThisAz1an



Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: All the fluffs, F/F, fluffs, some slight angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-09
Updated: 2020-11-09
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:54:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,795
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27476104
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThisAz1an/pseuds/ThisAz1an
Summary: A sweet, short moment between Liara and Shepard. Post Reaper Wars.
Relationships: Female Shepard/Liara T'Soni
Comments: 7
Kudos: 38





	Together

Liara T’Soni was all too familiar with sleepless nights.

The first, few months of the Reaper Wars was hectic and nerve-wracking. She had spent many nights constantly checking her monitor feeds, reading incoming reports from what remained of her agents, and live feeds from any and all planets affected by the Reapers. Liara and most of the Normandy crew believed of the Reapers’ imminent invasion. It was inevitable, a cycle they would later discover that happened every fifty thousand years.

After the events that ended in the destruction of both the Alpha Relay and the Bahak System, they all thought Shepard bought them more time in the sacrifice of her own integrity amongst the Alliance. No one, other than Admiral Hackett himself, knew of her true motives within the former Batarian system. All the Admiralty Board would see is that Commander Shepard was involved with the massacre of three hundred Batarian lives. Her bondmate would be incarcerated and put under strict “house arrest,” as Shepard jokingly referred to it.

Liara had planned on visiting her then lover, only to be contacted by Admiral Hackett and recruited into the Mars Archive Station team to find any evidence that could possibly help them defeat the Reapers. She had spent much of her six months scouring the Archives before the entire Galaxy was caught by surprise of the Reapers’ sudden appearance.

It was a hard and brutal war with all odds stacked against them. Yet, by the perseverance and combined efforts of all the Galactic races, they had won.

Lounging in the living room’s couch, Liara swirled the liquid content of her wine glass as she stared out toward the scenic window. If she recalled correctly, the beverage was referred to as “orange juice,” a citrus drink with some sweetness that Shepard introduced her to. It had become her favorite human beverage to enjoy during her downtime. A handful of skycars flew by every now and then through the Silversun Strip. They zipped by like beams of colors flashing through and left trails of their light-engine’s projection. The sight of it was almost soothing on evenings like this. As serene as it is, her mind could never forget the sight of Citadel months prior to the end of the Reaper Wars. Liara had anxiously waited on the news of whether her bondmate had survived the finale battle or not.

Fortunately, the Galaxy was not so cruel.

The front door of the apartment let out a soft chime—an indication that the door was unlocked—before it slid open.

The person that stepped through was none other than Commander Shepard—formally ranked as Admiral now—looking a bit exhausted after a long day. No doubt the Council meeting had taken much longer than usual. As soon as communications were restored by the first half of the recovery period, the Council, and the rest of the Galaxy wasted no time repairing the damage done. Organic and inorganic life alike all pooled in their efforts to make the Galaxy whole again. They had, after all, stopped the extinction of all organic life with very minimal chances of winning in the beginning. Fortunately, her bondmate had a knack for winning against impossible odds.

Shepard and the Council have agreed they would not be caught by surprise if there was another galactic threat, thus; intergalactic safety was amongst the many things they would need to take care of throughout the post-war, recovery process. Hence the countless meetings and negotiations on maintaining the peace they’ve achieved through a nightmarish war.

Shepard was in the midst of unfastening the first two buttons of her Admiral’s coat when she noticed her presence.

“Li?” Disbelief, with a hint of amusement in her tone. “You’re still awake?”

Liara flashed a loving smile, before pressing a forefinger against her lips. “I— _we_ —wanted to wait up for you,” she whispered softly.

A knowing glimmer flashed in those deep-green eyes before Shepard kicked off her dress shoes, settling them beside the front door, and then rounded the couch. Shepard bent down slightly, placing a gentle kiss on her temple before looking down on the small bundle on her lap.

Liara followed her gaze, a bubble of motherly warmth swelling in her chest.

Valerie, their daughter, was peacefully sleeping on her lap, curled against the crook of her arm, and tucked in with her blanket that had little mini Normandy SR-2s printed on the face of it. Hugged tightly against her small body was the child size plush version of the original Normandy SR-1. The two-year-old toddler normally slept in her crib but for some reason, her daughter would start fussing and crying if Liara tried to settle her in for the night. It was as if the little one was in her phase of refusing to go to bed, despite the sleepiness Liara could see in those familiar, green eyes. Thus, Liara compromised and relented on letting her daughter stay with her for the remainder of the evening, until Valerie ended up falling asleep within her embrace. Their daughter is quite attached to them both equally and would never fail to show her happiness upon seeing either one of them if they were gone for a certain amount of time. Liara was always with Valerie for the majority of the day and Shepard would only be absent for a duration of time.

“Aww,” Shepard cooed tenderly, leaning her head gently besides Liara’s. She reached down and placed a hand gently against the toddler’s blanketed side. “I would’ve gone home sooner if I knew lil’ Val was waiting for me too.”

Summoning a bit of her biotics, Liara let her glass of orange juice float to the coffee table across from them safely. “She would become fussy if I tried to put her in her crib. I think she wanted to wait up for you.”

Shepard grinned, before reaching down. Gingerly and gently, Liara transferred Valerie into her bondmate’s arms. Valerie almost seemed to disappear into Shepard’s toned forearms as the former Commander readjusted the small babe to lay comfortably within her arms. The toddler didn’t wake at all from her deep slumber.

“What a champ,” Shepard murmured, before raising her arms just a tad higher and pressed a gentle kiss against Valerie’s forehead.

Liara smiled, seeing the mixture of indescribable happiness and pride in her bondmate’s own green eyes. To think, for one possible second, she didn’t think this moment would come to fruition. When she stood before the memorial onboard the Normandy SR-2 a couple years ago.

Standing up from the couch, Liara realized the ache in her left arm, having been left immobilized in the same position for a couple of hours with the combined weight of a two-year old toddler. She gingerly rubbed up and down along the length of her arm and winced slightly as she felt the ‘pins and needles’ sensation. With Shepard home, so would the start of settling in for the evening.

They made their way to their bedroom, with Shepard placing their sleeping daughter into her crib near Liara’s side of the bed, and Liara placing her glass of unfinished orange juice on her nightstand. Her bondmate would linger by the crib, gently patting the side of their sleeping daughter while humming a soft tune of a lullaby. Liara would sit on the edge of her bedside, watching with love and fondness. Grateful that what seemed like a faraway dream had become a reality.

Eventually, she would coax Shepard to take a shower, while Liara made sure all of the security measures within the apartment were prepped and armed. Garrus had once joked they should have semblance of in-home security installed within the apartment since both of their reputations combined meant they might have an enemy or two gunning for them. Shepard shrugged it off, reassuring any enemies of her’s were either long dead or even if they tried, all they would find is the barrel of her gun. Liara didn’t have any enemies that lived long enough to investigate into her personal life. Her position as Shadow Broker did not allow any “loose ends.”

However, when Valerie was born, Shepard and Liara shared a knowing glance with one another when they first brought her home and mentally agreed upon Garrus’ suggestion. It was “better safe than sorry,” a human saying Liara had come to repeat mentally whenever she looked at their daughter.

She was leaning against the headboard of the bed, mindlessly scrolling about the holo-screen of her omni-tool. There were more files and reports to read, agents to check upon, feeds to monitor, and—

 _Oh_ , Liara was snapped out of her reverie upon feeling a hand caress her cheek. She lifted her gaze and met those strong, green eyes she had come to love.

“You’ve had this faraway look since I came home,” Shepard said. “What’s on your mind?”

Liara flashed a smile, as reassuring as she could project it, before turning her head slightly to press her lips against the same hand caressing her cheek. She laced one of her own to keep it there, to relish in the strong, comfortable warmth that her Commander—no, her Jane radiated naturally.

“I was simply…reminiscing, I suppose,” Liara uttered gently. “Everything we’ve done, what we’ve gone through, how…”

“—lucky we are?” Shepard finished for her as she trailed off. “Survivor’s guilt, hm?”

“Yes, it seems I’ve succumbed to that self-patronizing sense.”

“I can’t blame you,” Shepard sighed. “Thessia’s anniversary is just around the corner.”

The anniversary of her home planet’s survival, their recovery, and to remember those who have been lost to the war. She still recalled that day, as clear as if she was reliving it all over again. Every time Liara closed her eyes; the gunshots, the screams of agony fading into silence, the overlapping radio communications of every asari commando calling for assistance, and the blaring sound of a Reaper prepping its red laser beam that decimated everything in its wake. Despite not having lived in Thessia since splitting from her mother, it was still _home_. Liara only regretted not having visited her birthplace before it was scarred from the damages of war. Shepard was the only witnesses to her grief, a lapse in her will to remain resolute in the face of their adversaries, and it was only due to her bondmate that Liara simply kept moving.

She owed it to every asari who died fighting against the Reapers.

“I will be fine,” Liara reassured, an automatic response as she squeezed Shepard’s hand. “I will get through this.”

“ _We_ will get through this,” Shepard affirmed.

“Yes,” a small smile curved her lips as she pressed her forehead against her bondmate’s. “We will get through this. Together.”

**Author's Note:**

> Whew. 2020. I hope you are all staying safe in these weird times.  
> Thank you very much for reading, as always!


End file.
